1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the class of animal husbandry and, more particularly, to a disposable litter box envelope especially adapted for use by cats and/or household pets.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the past, cats and other animals kept indoors have been trained to use litter boxes. The simplest of these was the common sandbox. Thereafter, slightly more sophisticated litter was substituted for sand. Such litter has been formed of sawdust, clay, ground stone, etc., which may have been treated with perfumes, deodorants and reactants to minimize odors which emanate from both solid and liquid waste.
Fairly recently litter pads have been developed which have been marketed primarily as liners for litter boxes. These liners have the general construction of diapers and have a base or bottom sheet of fluid impervious material, a pad (usually of absorbent material, such as wood fluff) and a top sheet of thin material, such as a woven or non-woven sheet, sometimes of hydrophilic material, but usually of hydrophobic material. These litter pads are designed to be used in existing litter boxes, but have the disadvantage that they must be first separately fastened in the litter box and, secondly, that they are usually oversize, thus, having a relatively difficult fit. As such, the area of effectiveness of the pad is reduced in comparison to its size and, further, the effective area of the litter box is decreased due to creases, folds and bumps caused by misfits. In addition, the extra size of these pads increases costs.
While the use of pads provides some means for disposing of the used litter and to-be-discarded pad, the pad itself is cumbersome to handle, as well as being somewhat unpleasant to handle. Furthermore, even with the use of litter, some waste comes into contact with the litter box, which, of course, must then be washed or otherwise cleaned.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,225 to P. Yananton, issued Feb. 3, 1987, for "Odorless Animal Litter Unit," there is disclosed such a pad which is further provided above the top sheet with a "claw resistant" mesh. Such a pad can be used with variuos types of litter and in various types of litter boxes. However, in any event, there is no means for eliminating contact of the waste with the litter box and the necessity of periodic cleaning.
Litter box liners have been made from a single sheet of waterproof material, which has been spread over the litter box before placement of the litter material therein. Trash bags formed of sheet or film material have been placed over a litter box much in the same manner and, alternatively, the litter box has been placed within the trash bag in a pillowcase or envelope-like manner. Such attempts at litter box liners are generally unsuccessful because the sheet material is very easily torn and not at all claw-proof. Simple scratching turns these liners into shreds.